The image quality of image data generated by a digital still camera (DSC), a digital video camera (DVC), a scanner, or the like can be adjusted arbitrarily by using an image retouch application on a personal computer. The image retouch application generally has an image adjustment function for automatically adjusting the image quality (or characteristics) of image data, and the use of this image adjustment function can easily adjust the image quality of image data, which is to be output from an output device, to a standard image quality. Devices such as a CRT, a LCD, a printer, a projector, and a television are generally known as output devices of image data.
A printer driver that controls operations of a printer, which is one of the output devices, also has an image adjustment function for automatically adjusting the image quality (or characteristics) of image data. Accordingly, it is also possible to use such a printer driver to adjust the image quality of image data, which is to be printed out, to a standard image quality.
In the automatic image quality adjustment function provided by an image retouch application or the like, an image quality correction is typically executed on the basis of a standard image quality of image data. However, since the image data targeted for image processing may be generated under various conditions, the image quality (or characteristics) of the image data may not be sufficiently corrected with the automatic image quality adjustment function, which corrects the image quality equally with a reference value under the assumption that the image data is standard.
Some image data generating devices such as a DSC can arbitrarily adjust the image quality of image data at the time of its generation, so that its user can generate the image data purposefully with a given image quality. When the automatic image quality adjustment function is executed on such image data, even an image characteristic that was purposefully provided to the image data may be equally adjusted with a reference value, which makes it impossible to obtain an output image that reflects the intention of the user.